Garrett Wilde

Name: Garrett Wilde

Gender: Male

Age: 18

Grade: 12

School: Aurora High School

Hobbies and Interests: Stoicism, Board Games, People Watching, Hiking, Meditating

Appearance: Garrett possesses a below average 5’7” height and unusual gray eyes. He maintains close-cropped black hair and a trimmed goatee, as well as a tanned complexion that suggests long hours spent outdoors. He is of medium build at 152 pounds, with a physique that is fit but not well-toned, placing him at above average physical condition but without extraordinary muscle-mass. His clothing is simple and serviceable on most occasions, defaulting to well-worn jeans and colorful but otherwise unremarkable t-shirts for his day-to-day wear. He exhibits an interest in men's formal wear, however, that expresses itself in a pair of black leather driving gloves inherited from his late grandfather. His face bears a hooked nose and slim lips that are generally upturned into a slight smile.

Biography: Garrett was born to Linda and Matthew Wilde in Seattle, Washington. His father was an international affairs correspondent, which led to him often being away on business during Garrett's youth. He was raised by his mother, a preschool teacher, and his paternal grandfather, a retired professor of philosophy. The relationship between his parents was strained, but his grandfather Alexander acted as a mediator between the two parties due to the fact that he introduced them and felt responsible for balancing their lifestyles. Given that both his parents were committed professionals and his grandfather was often distracted trying to sort out their personal issues, Garrett spent much of his early life alone. He found that he would generally have to exaggerate his emotions to get their attention, though this was passed off as youthful willfulness for much of his childhood rather than a negative consequence of his unfulfilled desires for attention. His mother began ignoring his outbursts so as to avoid reinforcing his behavior. In response, Garrett became even more erratic, much to the concern of Alexander, but Linda refused to cave first. She felt that ultimately the behavior would curb itself once he learned that this was not an appropriate way to gain attention.

This came to a head one afternoon shortly after Garrett turned eight. He was climbing trees in a nearby park that his mother took him to when she and Alexander needed a break from his antics, and from each other. He had been climbing with another young boy, but quickly grew tired of his company. He was already angry due to the fact that his mother and grandfather had been increasingly distant lately, and his father had once again failed to return home for his birthday, but he had been attempting to hide his emotions as well as he could to avoid another lecture. The other boy's refusal to leave triggered an uncharacteristically violent episode in him, however, and they began to scream at each other. During the resulting tantrum, the other boy's branch broke from his constant shaking, and he fell out of the tree. While he survived the fall, it was later confirmed that he was now paralyzed from the neck down.

The event was ruled to be an accident by everyone involved. Records indicate that the parents attempted to sue the city, though nothing came of it and Garrett was never considered a factor in the proceedings outside of possibly appearing as a witness. He did not touch the boy, or come near him during their argument, and there was nothing to suggest that the act had been intentional. His family never heard anything after the incident, though he was forced to go and visit the boy occasionally during his hospital stay. The experience changed him profoundly. He began to associate his emotional outbursts with all the negative things in his life: His father's continued distance, the increasing lack of attention from his mother and grandfather, and now another child's mobility. He withdrew from everyone around him, afraid to express his feelings in the slightest manner. His mother was of little help during this time, as she took the incident as a mark of personal failure. This prompted Alexander to act decisively for the first time on Garrett's behalf, extending his role as a mediator and counselor between Garrett and his mother, a role that was previously off-limits. The aftermath of the accident opened up Garrett's mother to new lines of reasoning, and broke down the barriers that had dominated her relationship with Matthew for so long. Matthew returned home shortly after learning what happened, his guilt from his pronounced absence overcoming his professional instincts. Together, they began slowly rebuilding their respective relationships, and drawing Garrett out of his shell.

Change came gradually for the Wilde family. Most notably, Matthew retired from active correspondence and field journalism in favor of writing novels and memoirs based on his experiences. This allowed him to spend a large amount of his time at home with Alexander and Garrett in an effort to make up for his long absence. It was decided that Garrett should be temporarily withdrawn from school until he was more emotionally stable, and so Alexander took over the task of his education with healthy advice from Linda. On the other side, Matthew began bonding with the his estranged son over their leisure time. Garrett was reluctant to accept him at first, but over time he grew to accept his father's presence. They would spend many mornings hiking in Green Lake Park, enjoying the calm shore view and the serenity of the quiet trail. To help expand Garrett's empathy and interest in other people, they began to play a game where they would guess why their fellow walkers along the trail were out so early, a game that expanded into long, elaborate fictional profiles based on chance encounters with complete strangers. They both knew that none of their observations were even vaguely likely to be true, but it was an exercise that played upon Matthew's skills as a writer and Garrett's burgeoning curiosity towards other human beings.

While Matthew taught Garrett about other people, Alexander spent time teaching him about himself. While his lesson plans included the minimum required focus on subjects of general knowledge ranging from math to English grammar, he spent more and more time on philosophy as Garrett grew older. While there was little he could teach an 8 year old about the life's broader questions, Garrett began to show a strong interest in many philosophical fields by the age of 12. Though Garrett had re-entered public education and thus left Alexander's tutelage shortly after he turned 12, Alexander continued to encourage this interest whenever possible, and on his 14th birthday presented him with a copy of Marcus Aurelius's Meditations. This was the beginning of Garrett's passion for Stoicism, defined by its firm belief that the expression of negative emotion is the root of all social and personal problems. The distinction that Alexander repeatedly stressed in their discussion of Stoicism was that feeling negative emotions was wholly natural, but allowing them to over-ride reason with passion results in negative consequences. This concept appealed to Garrett, and it became a recurring theme in his other schoolwork. This central premise, combined with an emphasis on logic and evidence prominent in Stoic literature, drove Garrett to become a better student than ever. While some found his philosophy to be strange, others were at the very least appreciative of his positive outlook and non-confrontational nature. As he entered High School he was regarded as a generally bright young man with high grades and a disarmingly care-free nature. He quickly excelled in the fields of English and social science, with no small help from his father, and is well-known among the faculty of Aurora High School for his well-honed critical insight in his papers. Despite his clear ability to pick apart ideas, however, Garrett has declined several invitations to join the school debate club, on the grounds that he finds the emphasis on disagreement to be distracting. Instead, he connects with his peers through is love of board games, an activity he spent many long hours honing with Alexander during their lessons and discussions. While he will play any table-top game presented, he has developed a particular fondness for strategic games ranging from Chess to complex military strategy games such as Warhammer 40k. This hobby accents his natural intelligence and resourceful analysis well, and makes him at the very least tactically competent.

All together, Garrett has come far in the last ten years. He is a stable, well-adjusted student without significant tension in his home life. Records indicate that his grandfather died two years ago, but Garrett continues to cite him as the greatest influence on his life. For his 16th birthday, Alexander gave him a pair of black leather driving gloves to preemptively celebrate his new driver's license. Garrett is rarely seen without them, treating them as a symbol of the control and freedom they built together over the years. After Alexander's death, Matthew stepped back into his place as Garrett's primary role model and confidante, a relationship which seems at least superficially solid. They spend weekends together discussing current affairs, editing Matthew's latest project, and shopping for unusual formal wear. While he is not quick to make very close friends, he has wide number of positive acquaintances, and has grown to value his various support networks in both friends and family, though he often spends time alone to reflect. He is fond of meditating, sometimes for hours, at many locations across the city, though he seems to favor Alkie Beach the most. This appears to be a habit he inherited from Alexander, and may be another way he seeks to hold his connection to his departed mentor.

Advantages: Garrett is calm, logical, and intelligent. He is not likely to take any drastic actions and his philosophy makes him difficult to shake. He bonds well with strangers and has grown to excel at putting the needs of others before his own. He learns quickly and can adapt to unfamiliar situations well if he is given a moment to think. He is in good physical condition from his frequent hikes with his father, as well as his dedicated routine.

Disadvantages: Garrett has little regard for his own safety. If left alone he will defend himself and survive as necessary, but he is more likely to attempt to negotiate with someone than attack them, even if he has established hostile intent. If he can maintain his training, he will most likely never kill another individual to save his own life, though he may be able to act to save someone else. Likewise, he is predisposed to putting himself in danger if he believe it will assist someone else, even if he has no particular attachment to that person. While he isn't necessarily trusting of other people, he is quick to support what he perceives as good intent and could be easily tricked into assisting someone claiming to be passive.

Designated Number: Male student No. 062

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Designated Weapon: YoYo

Conclusion: Seemed solid enough up until the whole pacifism deal - hesitate and you're gonna die, simple as that. And... little regard for his own safety? I guess YOLO with that YoYo - Matt Richards

'The above biography is as written by DocBalance. No edits or alterations to the author's original work have been made.'

Evaluations
Handled by: DocBalance

Kills: Jaquilyn Locke

Killed By: Andi Victorino 

Collected Weapons: YoYo (designated weapon), diving knife (from Matt Vartoogian)

Allies: Mirabella Strong, Matt Vartoogian, Cammy Davidson, Ami Flynn

Enemies: Travis Webster, Hansel Williams, Tyler Lucas, Theodore Fletcher, Jaquilyn Locke, Hansel Williams

Mid-game Evaluation:

Post-Game Evaluation:

Memorable Quotes:
 * "I multiplied. Then I subtracted. That's what we do now. That's how we keep the most people around."

Threads
Below is a list of threads that contain Garrett, in chronological order.

The Past: Pre-Game: V5: Related Threads in Meanwhile:
 * The Mask Slips
 * Historically Speaking
 * Walk slow, talk slow, keep yer head low
 * I Put On My Robe And Wizard's Hat
 * The Calm Before The Storm
 * La Reine Du Bal
 * Will Alone
 * Rome is Burning
 * Wendigo
 * Where on the island is Carmen San Diego?
 * A Few More Bullets
 * That's Crate!
 * Picking It Clean
 * Young and Beautiful
 * Pre-Game
 * Internecine
 * Prayer for the Someone Who Is Somewhere Dying
 * All Battles Are Fought By Scared Men Who'd Rather Be Some Place Else
 * Enemy of the State
 * Routine.

Your Thoughts
''Whether you were a fellow handler in SOTF or just an avid reader of the site, we'd like to know what you thought about Garrett Wilde. What did you like, or dislike, about the character? Let us know here!''

Garrett's pretty hard to actually summarize in a few words due to how intriguing and complex he is, but there's probably someone else who can explain it better then I do. Instead, I'm actually gonna point on how he's one of the better examples on how to do the very basics of writing a character just right. The pre-game relationships he made are all very important to his story and theirs, he was involved in a lot of people other's stories on the island, he changes and compromises his personality and morals naturally, he always made you look forward to what he was doing next, and his death was the best end i could have imagined for him, all the while I wouldn't have minded if his story was still going on. So yeah I think he's worth a look-see. -- Un-Persona

Garrett's interesting for me to look back on. Despite, or perhaps because of, him being the only character I both created and wrote in Version 5, he ended up being my least favorite. I love Garrett, but there are a lot of mistakes in his execution, particularly in his pre-game and in his early island threads. Looking back, he logically should have stayed with Rosemary and Co., and leaving them was a decision driven almost entirely by OOC desires. Disregarding those desires in favor of what's best for the character and their arc was a very difficult lesson to learn, and it's the source of a lot of my regret with Garrett.

Garrett, like all my characters, was built around a central theme. In his case, that theme was control. Controlling his situation, and himself, was an issue at the heart of most of Garrett's little idiosyncrasies, desires, and fears. The narrative I wanted to tell with Garrett was someone who was a more or less well-intentioned, good person trying to control the game and the chaos it creates, and in the process lose themselves within it. I regret, in retrospect, not being able to better convey this narrative by intersecting with individuals like Carlon Wheeler, or Paris Ardennes, or staying with characters he did run across, like Rosemary Michaels.

Overall, though, I'm really happy with who I did get to work with. Jessica Sanders, Hansel Williams, Michelle Wexler, and others were delightful to write with, and they supported holes in the arc that I had left open. Garrett's story is far from perfect, and it's the one I'd correct the most out my V5 arcs, but it was educational, and entertaining, and that's all I can ask a character to give me. --DocBalance